The purpose of this course is to provide you with an introduction to the field of applied social
psychology. The content matter of the course is intentionally broad and will illustrate the applications of
psychological theories and methods to such topics as media; sports; health; education; race and
diversity; and community. At the end of the course you should be able to be able to conceptualise an
intervention to a social problem, understand methods of evaluation for an intervention, and discuss the
empirical basis of programs addressing social issues.
Assessment:

There are two main dimensions on which I will be assessing you in this course. The first is whether you
have read and engaged with all the course content. I will be assessing this in the two exams (mid-term
and final). To do well in these exams you will need to put in the time and effort to know the materials
well. The second dimension I will be assessing is how well you are able to apply knowledge gained in the
course. This will be assessed in the course practical assignment. In addition, there will be an opportunity
for bonus grades. The weighted breakdown of assessment for the course will be:
1) Practical Assignment – 40%
The largest single component for assessment in this course will come from a practical assignment. The
due date for this practical assignment is 20 March 2012 (1:00 pm).
2) Mid-term Exam – 25%
There will be a mid-term exam on Tuesday 14 February, 2012. The exam will take place instead of the
scheduled lecture – same time and place as the usual lecture would have taken place. The exam will
cover materials from the textbook and all lectures and readings up to that point.
3) Final Exam – 35%
The final exam will cover all materials (textbook, lectures, additional readings) since the mid-term exam.
4) Bonus – up to 3% added to final grade
There will be an opportunity to gain bonus marks. More details about this below.
Practical Assignment Guidelines

The practical assignment component of this course is the single highest weighted item on which you will
be assessed. This means that you should spend a significant amount of time and effort on the
assignment – I would recommend at least several weeks or even a couple of months. My suggestion
would be for you begin to work on the assignment mid February (or earlier). Try to have a complete
draft by the second week of March, and use the remaining time before the deadline to do any last
refinements on the paper before submitting.
Practical Assignment Topics:

Choose one of the following three issues on which to focus:
1. Environmental issues (e.g., behaviours contributing to climate change)
2. Immigration
3. Academic performance

Once you have chosen your topic, choose one of the two options for your practical assignment:3

1. Develop a hypothetical intervention to change people’s behavior in the context of your chosen
topic. Your intervention could be targeted to a local community, provincial, or other level. Make
sure to also include an evaluation of your intervention. For example, if you chose to focus on
climate change, you might design an intervention based on reducing people’s use of energy.
2. Conduct a rhetorical/discursive analysis of the media coverage on your chosen topic. For
example, if you chose to focus on environmental issues you might analyse arguments for or
against the oil sands project in Alberta as they are presented in the media. Choose between 5
and 10 recent news articles to analyse how facts are presented and certain positions warranted.
If choosing this assignment, make sure to base your analysis on qualitative methods from the
academic literature.
Practical Assignment Requirements:

-The purpose of the assignment is for you to develop skills in using academic knowledge to
address real world problems or phenomena. Therefore:
o Choose a specific problem to work on
o Make sure that you know what has been said in the academic literature about this or
similar issues (i.e., begin with a review of the relevant academic literature)
o Make sure that your methods used in the assignment are based on acceptable scientific
or social scientific methodology
-Choose a suitable title for your assignment that reflects the issues you are addressing and is
within the scope of the topic
-The paper must include a meaningful engagement with relevant literature on the subject (don’t
rely on Wikipedia – you need to read and use peer reviewed publications); ensure that you
provide a solid overview of relevant studies and/or theory on your chosen topic
-The assignment should be between 2500 and 3000 words in length
-Please use 1.5 or double spacing and 12-point font
-Use page numbers, reasonable margins, and don’t forget to include your name and student
number
-Citations and references should follow the APA guidelines (note: different disciplines use
different reference styles; make sure you use the right one)
-The assignment must be original – it must be your own work (and yours alone), and not have
been submitted or used for any purpose other than this course
-AVOID PLAGIARISM – this means that all ideas you use in your paper that come from your
readings need to be cited; where quotes are used, make sure you give page numbers;
distinguish clearly between your own thinking and arguments, and what you have read
somewhere else and are using for your paper; READ the university guidelines regarding
academic integrity here: http://www.academicintegrity.uoguelph.ca/
-Please submit a hard-copy and an electronic version of the assignment no later than 1:00 pm
on the due date. Both are required.

-Penalties:
o Marks will be subtracted for assignments significantly outside of the word length
margins (see above)
o Marks will be subtracted for late assignments at a rate of 10% per day to a maximum of
30%. Any assignment that is more than 3 days late automatically receives 0%.

-Extensions will generally not be granted. Because you are expected to be working on the
assignment over several weeks, excuses based on unforeseen events occurring close to the
deadline are not accepted.

Bonus Grades

Each week there will be assigned readings, and most lectures will require preparatory reading of at least
one journal article. To earn bonus grades at the end of the course, you may choose to hand in short
discussion notes on required readings.
The format of discussion notes should be one paragraph in length (maximum half a page), in which you
write down your thoughts on the article. You can focus on such things as the implications of the article
for practice or policy; you could come up with a few discussion questions that are raised by the article
and elaborate on why you think they are relevant; or you could come up with your own ideas here.
IMPORTANT: do not simply present a summary of the article.
To qualify for the bonus grades you will need to submit discussion notes on at least 8 of the required
readings. They need to be submitted electronically via CourseLink before the lecture in which the article
is discussed.
Readings

Please note that in general, there will be readings for every week of lectures (up to two chapters from
the textbook and two journal articles). It is expected that you have read this material prior to the
relevant lecture and are prepared to discuss it in class. Required readings will be posted on Courselink.
Class Attendance

To do well in this course you need to attend lectures regularly and take good notes. Although lecture
slides may be posted online, they are not sufficient by themselves for you to gain a good understanding
of the material. Please also check CourseLink regularly for updates and announcements.
General

Please familiarize yourself with the student responsibilities for the Department of Psychology. You can
read them here: http://www.uoguelph.ca/psychology/page.cfm?id=745.

NOTE: This is a preliminary web course description only.
The department reserves the right to change without notice any information in this description.

The final binding course outline will be distributed during the first class of the semester.

Students currently enrolled in this course are required to access the designated printer icon above,
for supplementary documents if listed below.

Statement Of Student Responsibilities
Students in all Psychology courses are required to read and adhere to the statements listed via the above link
or via the STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES link on the Department of Psychology home page.

Questions regarding those responsibilities should be directed to the course instructor.